Methods and apparatus for relocating and restoring connections through a failed serving gateway and traffic offloading

ABSTRACT

In a radio telecommunications network, a serving gateway support node controls connections between user equipment nodes and a packet-based network that pass through at least one serving gateway and at least one packet gateway. The serving gateway support node detects failure of communications to a first serving gateway. The serving gateway support node responds to the detected failure by initiating relocation of existing connections through the first serving gateway to instead pass through a second serving gateway. The serving gateway support node detects recovery of communications to the first serving gateway, and responds by ceasing relocation of at least some of the existing connections that have not yet been relocated to the second serving gateway. Related methods, serving gateways, and packet gateways are also disclosed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of priority from U.S.Provisional Application No. 61/383,116 entitled “A Process on Handlingof SGW Restart and SGW Traffic Offload” filed Sep. 15, 2010, thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to serving gateway support nodes in radiotelecommunications networks, such as, non exclusively, the serving GPRSsupport node (SGSN) of a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network andthe Mobile Management Entity (MME) of a 3GPP (Third GenerationPartnership Project) LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. It also relatesto serving gateways, packet gateways, and networks as a whole, and torelated methods.

BACKGROUND

Access for mobile devices to packet-based networks, such as theInternet, through radio telecommunications networks is an importantgrowth area for the telecommunications industry. For example, 3GPP TS(Technical Specification) 23.401 and 3GPP TS 23.060 disclose an EvolvedPacket Core (EPC) network architecture in which User Equipment nodes(UEs) connect to a packet-based network through a Serving GateWay (SGW)and a Packet data network GateWay (PGW).

The 3GPP TS 23.007, 3GPP TS 29.274, and 3GPP TS 29.275 specify thefollowing two mechanisms for an EPC node to detect a restart or afailure of a peer EPC node. An EPC node may be, for example, a MobileManagement Entity (MME), a Serving GPRS Support Node with an S4interface (S4-SGSN), a SGW, and/or a PGW.

According to one mechanism, an EPC node can detect that a peer EPC nodehas restarted in response to a recovery Information Element (IE) that isreceived from the other node, such as by a GPRS Tunneling Protocolversion 2 (GTPv2) message (e.g. an Echo Response). When the nodescommunicate through a Proxy Mobile IP (PMIP)-based S5/S8 interface, onenode can signal to the other node that it has restarted by communicatinga PMIPv6 Heartbeat Response that contains a restart counter that isincremented each time the node restarts.

According to another mechanism, an EPC node can detect that a peer EPCnode has failed responsive to not receiving a reply to a defined numberof consecutive GTPv2 Echo Request messages. When the nodes communicatethrough a PMIP-based S5/S8 interface, one node may conclude that anothernode (e.g., a SGW or PGW) has failed responsive to not receiving a replyto a defined number of consecutive PMIPv6 Heartbeat Request messages.

However, receiving no replies to GTPv2 Echo Requests or PMIPv6 HeartbeatRequest messages from a peer EPC node may not necessarily mean that thepeer EPC has restarted or is undergoing a restart procedure. Instead, anode can become unreachable due to some other issues in the network,such as due to temporary transport network failures, routingmisconfiguration, etc. Therefore, the 3GPP requirements provide that itis optional for an EPC node to conclude from the absence of replies toGTPv2 Echo Requests or PMIPv6 Heartbeat Request messages from a peer EPCnode that the peer node has “failed” or is being “restarted”.

In an EPC system, pursuant to 3GPP TS 23.401 and 3GPP TS 23.060, the MMEand the S4-SGSN maintain the Mobility Management (MM) context andEvolved Packet System (EPS) bearer context (Packet Data Network (PDN)connection) information. The SGW and the PGW maintain the EPS bearercontext information for the UEs that are served by these nodes. Pursuantto 3GPP TS 23.007, when an EPC node restarts, it deletes all affectedcontext information. The EPC nodes, who are peer to the restarted node,detect the restart (and associated deletion of the context information)upon reception of the incremented Restart counter as described above.

3GPP TS 23.007 specifies how the MM context and EPS bearer contextinformation of the UEs is handled by an EPC node when the EPC nodedetects that one of its peer EPC nodes has restarted. For example, whenan MME or a PGW detects that a SGW has restarted, they delete allcontext information for the UEs that were being served by the restartedSGW. When an S4-SGSN detects that a SGW has restarted, the S4-SGSNdeletes all the EPS bearer context information for the UEs that werebeing served by the restarted SGW, however the S4-SGSN may keep the MMcontext information for those impacted UEs (i.e., the UEs that are stillattached to the network).

While the restart of an EPC node (e.g. SGW) could be due to hardware orsoftware malfunctions in that node, sometimes such a restart could alsobe initiated intentionally by Operations and Maintenance (O&M) operatorsduring, for example, EPC node upgrades and/or featureactivation/deactivation that may require node restart. Regardless of thetriggering event for a restart, the affected EPS bearer contexts and MMcontexts are handled as described above. 3GPP TS 23.401 specifies a MMEload balancing mechanism that allows operators to move UEs associatedwith a MME to another MME before planned maintenance requiring MMErestart. However, there is no such traffic offloading mechanismspecified in 3GPP specifications for planned SGW restarts.

Regardless of whether a SGW restart is triggered by hardware or softwaremalfunctions or is operator initiated, whenever a SGW restart occurs theaffected MM contexts and the EPS bearer contexts (PDN connections) inthe MME, S4-SGSN and PGW are deleted, which can cause severe problemsfor the associated end-user services and for network signalling. Forexample, ongoing (i.e. active) packet data sessions are interruptedbecause of the loss of user plane bearers in the SGW. Ongoing datatransfers will be not be possible until the UE re-establishes the EPSbearers. End-users will not be able to use any UE-initiated PacketSwitched (PS) services until the UEs re-attach and re-establish theassociated EPS bearers. Similarly, any network-initiated PS services(e.g. UE-terminated Voice Over Long Term Evolution (LTE) (VoLTE) calls)will not be available to UEs.

Other deleterious effects on the EPC can include a signalling increaseon the interfaces between the PGW, MME, and/or S4-SGSN and some otherEPC nodes in order to clean up the associated bearers/resources in thoseother EPC nodes. Increased signalling can also occur on the PGWinterfaces, such as, to a Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) (todelete IP-Connectivity Access Network (CAN) sessions), to RemoteAuthentication Dial in User Service (RADIUS) or Dynamic HostConfiguration Protocol (DHCP) servers (e.g. to release IP addressesassigned by these servers), and to charging related servers (e.g. due toclosing of Charging Data Records (CDRs)). In addition, some of theseservers may also need to talk to some other nodes to do further clean upin the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) core or application servers. Forexample, a PCRF may inform a Proxy Call Session Control Function(P-CSCF) about the deletion of PDN connection.

In general, the MME/S4-SGSN is configured to avoid unnecessarysignalling on the radio interface. As used herein, the term“MME/S4-SGSN” refers to a MME node and/or a S4-SGSN node. However, a SGWrestart can cause a sudden increase in the signalling between theMME/S4-SGSN and the UE, between the MME/S4-SGSN and the RAN nodes, andpossibly also between the MME and HSS.

End-to-end signalling through the EPC network can also increase duringre-connection of the UEs to the network after SGW restarts.Re-connection of the affected UEs (i.e. the UEs who have PDN connectionsvia the restarted SGW) to the network may be spread over time based onthe rate of UE-initiated uplink packets, such as Non-Access Stratus(NAS) Service Requests, periodic Routing Area Update (RAU) or TrackingArea Update (TAU) Requests. Some pro-active mechanisms may also beadapted in the MME/S4-SGSN (such as MME-initiated detach signalling tothe UE with an indication of re-attach required indication or in SGSNdeactivation of PDP contexts with re-activation required indication upondetection of the SGW restart) for faster reconnection of the UEs.

The following procedures may contribute to the end-to-end signallingload during the reconnection of the UEs to the network:

-   -   signalling due to rejection of NAS messages (such as Service        Request, TAU Request or RAU Request signalling) from the UEs        whose MM and/or EPS bearer contexts have been deleted in the        network;    -   signalling due to re-attach and re-establishment of the PDN        connection(s) and any dedicated EPS bearer(s) required by any        specific applications in the UEs; and    -   re-establishment of the application level signalling between UEs        and the application servers, such as for IMS-based services.

If the signalling load upon detection of an SGW restart is not wellmanaged by the PGW, MME, and S4-SGSN, it might lead congestion,overload, and/or instability in the Public Land Mobile Networks (PLMN)where the SGW has active PDN connections.

SUMMARY

Some embodiments are directed to a serving gateway support node thatcontrols connections through at least one serving gateway of a radiotelecommunications network. The serving gateway support node detectsfailure of communications to a first serving gateway. The servinggateway support node responds to the detected failure by initiatingrelocation of existing connections through the first serving gateway toinstead pass through a second serving gateway. The serving gatewaysupport node detects recovery of communications to the first servinggateway, and responds by ceasing relocation of at least some of theexisting connections that have not yet been relocated to the secondserving gateway.

In some further embodiments, the serving gateway support node respondsto the first serving gateway having completed a restart by restoring atleast some of the existing connections to the first serving gateway thathave not yet been relocated to the second serving gateway. The servinggateway support node may restore at least some of the existingconnections to the first serving gateway by communicating contextinformation to the first serving gateway for each of the existingconnections that is to be restored to the first serving gateway. Thecontext information may include identification of the connection, anInternet Protocol address of a packet gateway, a tunneling identifier, aQuality of Service value, and/or a bearer ID.

Some other embodiments are directed to a method for controllingconnections that pass through at least one serving gateway of a radiotelecommunications network. Failure of communications to a first servinggateway is detected. In response to the detected failure, a servinggateway support node initiates relocation of existing connectionsthrough the first serving gateway to instead pass through a secondserving gateway. Recovery of communications to the first serving gatewayis detected. In response to the detected recovery, the serving gatewaysupport node ceases relocation of at least some of the existingconnections that have not yet been relocated to pass through the secondserving gateway.

Some other embodiments are directed to a method for controllingconnections that pass through at least one serving gateway of a radiotelecommunications network. A serving gateway support node receives afirst message from an operator requesting that at least some existingconnections be offloaded from a first serving gateway. In response tothe first message, the serving gateway support node relocates at leastsome of the existing connections from the first serving gateway to asecond serving gateway.

Some other embodiments are directed to a serving gateway that receives aconnection restoration message from a serving gateway support node afterthe serving gateway has restarted. The serving gateway responds to theconnection restoration message by restoring in memory of the servinggateway at least some connections, which existed before the servinggateway restarted, between user equipment nodes and a packet-basednetwork that passed through the serving gateway.

Some other embodiments are directed to a packet gateway that determineswhether a serving gateway support node supports a connection relocationmode through which the serving gateway support node relocatesconnections from a first serving gateway of a radio telecommunicationsnetwork to a second serving gateway in response to the serving gatewaysupport node detecting failure of communications to the first servinggateway. The packet gateway detects failure of communications to thefirst serving gateway. The packet gateway responds to the detectedfailure and a determination that the serving gateway support nodesupports the connection relocation mode by retaining in a memory of thepacket gateway context information for any connections that the packetgateway has that pass through the first serving gateway. The packetgateway responds to the detected failure and a determination that theserving gateway support node does not support the connection relocationmode by deleting from the memory of the packet gateway the contextinformation for any connections that the packet gateway has that passthrough the first serving gateway.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiment(s)of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a radio telecommunications network that isconfigured to operate according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of S4-SGSNs and MMEs that operate tocontrol connections between UEs and a packet-based network that passthrough various SGWs according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of operations, methods and associatedmessage flows between various elements of the radio telecommunicationsnetwork of FIG. 1 for forming connections responsive to a UE triggeredservice request procedure and for relocating connections according tosome embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of further operations, methods andassociated message flows relating to FIG. 3 for forming connectionsresponsive to a UE triggered service request procedure;

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of operations, methods and associatedmessage flows between a serving gateway support node, first and secondSGWs, and a PGW for relocating and storing connections responsive to oneof the SGWs restarting and/or operating initiated traffic offloading inaccordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of further operations, methods andassociated message flows for an operator initiated relocation ofconnections through a SGW according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 7-13 are flowcharts of operations and methods by a serving gatewaysupport node for relocating connections between SGWs and restoringconnections to a SGW according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 14-15 are flowcharts of operations and methods by a servinggateway support node for relocating connections between SGWs andrestoring connections to a SGW responsive to operator initiated trafficoffloading according to some embodiments;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of operations and methods by a serving gateway tosupport relocation and restoration of connections by a serving gatewaysupport node according to some embodiments;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of operations and methods by a packet gateway tosupport relocation of connections by a serving gateway support nodeaccording to some embodiments; and

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of an example network node of FIG. 1 that isconfigured according to some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of theinvention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in manydifferent forms and should not be construed as limited to theembodiments set forth herein.

Some embodiments are directed to a radio telecommunications network inwhich a serving gateway support node controls connections between UEsand a packet-based network that pass through at least one SGW and atleast one PGW. The serving gateway support node responds to anindication of failure of communications to a first SGW, or to anoperator initiated offloading of connections from the SGW, by startingrelocation of existing connections that pass through the first SGW toinstead pass through a second SGW. The serving gateway support node alsoresponds to an indication of recovery of communications to the firstSGW, or to cessation of the operator initiated offloading of connectionsfrom the SGW, by ceasing relocation of at least some of the existingconnections that have not yet been relocated to pass through the secondSGW.

The serving gateway support node may also respond to an indication thatthe first SGW has restarted, which resulted in the first SGW losinginformation on at least some of the existing connections, by restoringat least some of the existing connections to the first SGW that have notyet been relocated to pass through the second SGW. The serving gatewaysupport node may restore at least some of the existing connections tothe first serving gateway by communicating context information to thefirst serving gateway for each of the existing connections that is to berestored to the first serving gateway. These and other embodiments areexplained below with regard to FIGS. 1-18.

Example Radio Telecommunications Network:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example Third Generation PartnershipProject (3GPP) radio telecommunications network that is configured tooperate according to some embodiments. The radio telecommunicationsnetwork comprises a plurality, typically thousands, of user equipmentnodes 100) (also known as wireless terminals or mobile stations) thatcommunicate through radio access communication links with a UniversalMobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) Terrestrial Radio Access Network(UTRAN) 110, a GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN) 120, and/or anEvolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN) 130.

The UTRAN 110 and the GERAN 120 can each include radio networkcontroller (RNC) nodes to control communications through radio basestations providing radio access communication links to UEs that arewithin their respective communication service cells. The E-UTRAN 130 caninclude radio base station nodes (eNodeBs 132) that can provide thecombined functionality of the RNC nodes and base stations of the UTRAN110 and the GERAN 120.

A plurality of S4-SGSNs 140 (one of which is shown in FIG. 1) areresponsible for the delivery of data packets from and to the UEs 100within its geographical service area. Their tasks can include packetrouting and transfer, mobility management (attach/detach and locationmanagement), logical link management, and authentication functions. TheS4-SGSNs 140 control communications connections between UEs and one ormore packet-based networks 152 through a plurality of SGWs 146 (one ofwhich is shown in FIG. 1) and PGWs 148 (one of which is shown in FIG.1), and may perform other functions such as mobility management asPMM-IDLE/Standby mode UEs 100 moves from one Routing Area to anotherRouting Area. The S4-SGSN 140 can establish connections at the SGWs 146through a S4 interface. The packet-based network 152 may include theInternet and/or other packet network elements. The S4-SGSN also providescontrol plane functionality for carrying out mobility between 2G/3G andLTE access networks with the S3 interface between the MMEs 142 and theS4-SGSNs 140.

The SGWs 146 route and forward signalling and user data packets, whilealso acting as the mobility anchor for the user plane during inter-basestation/eNodeB handovers and as the anchor for mobility between theUTRAN 110, the GERAN 120, and the E-UTRAN 130. For aECM-IDLE/PMM-IDLE/Standby mode UE 100, a SGW 146 may terminate thedownlink data path and triggers paging when downlink data arrives forthe UE 100. The SGWs 146 manage and store UE communication connectioncontexts, which for each connection can include identification of theconnection, an Internet Protocol address of a packet gateway, atunneling identifier, and a Quality of Service value.

The PGWs 148 provide entry and exit points to the packet network 152 forUE traffic flowing through the SGWs 146. A UE 100 may have simultaneousconnectivity with more than one PGW 148 for accessing multiple packetnetworks 152. The PGWs 148 perform policy enforcement, packet filteringfor each UE 100, charging support, lawful interception and packetscreening. The PGWs 148 also function as the anchor for mobility between3GPP and non-3GPP technologies such as WiMAX and 3GPP2 (CDMA 1X andEvDO).

MMEs 142 (one of which is shown in FIG. 1) route and forward signallingpackets for the E-UTRAN 130. The MMEs 142 are responsible for EPSConnection Management (ECM) idle mode UE 100 tracking and pagingprocedures, and are involved in connection bearer (Packet Data Network(PDN) connection) activation/deactivation processes and are alsoresponsible for choosing the SGW 146 for a UE 100 at the initialattachment and at time of handover. Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signallingterminates at the MMEs 142, and they are also responsible for generationand allocation of temporary identities to UEs 100. It checks theauthorization of a UE 100 to camp on a service provider's Public LandMobile Network and enforces UE roaming restrictions. The MMEs 142 arethe termination point in the network for ciphering/integrity protectionfor NAS signalling and handles security key management. The MME alsoprovides control plane functionality for carrying out mobility betweenLTE and 2G/3G access networks with the S3 interface between the MMEs 142and the S4-SGSNs 140.

For ease of explanation, a S4-SGSN 140 and a MME 142 are also sometimescollectively or individually referred to herein as a “serving gatewaysupport node” and “MME/S4-SGSN 142,140.” Accordingly, the servinggateway support node can include the S4-SGSNs 140 only, the MMEs 142only, or a combination of the S4-SGSNs 140 and the MMEs 142.

An operations and maintenance (O&M) server 154 can be used to controlvarious operations of the S4-SGSN 140 and MME 142 as described below.

The S4-SGSN 140 and MME 142 access a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 144,via respective S6d and S6a interfaces, to obtain UE subscription-relatedinformation (subscriber profiles), and perform authentication andauthorization of UEs 100. A policy charging and rules function (PCRF)node 150 applies policy rules to control what services are allowed andto control the quality of service (QoS) levels that are provided to userpacket traffic flowing through the PGS 148 and packet network 152, andalso aggregates information for use by charging nodes and other networknodes.

Serving Gateway Support Node and PGW Response to SGW Restart:

FIG. 2 illustrates a plurality of the S4-SGSNs 140_1 to 140_n and MMEs142_1 to 140_n that operate to control connections between UEs 100within their respective geographic service areas and the packet network152 that pass through a plurality of the SGWs 146_1 to 146_n, where thenumber “n” of S4-SGSNs, MMEs, and SGWs may be different.

At least some of the problems that result from restart of a SGW 146,described above, may be reduced if the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and PGWs148, who have PDN connections established via the restarted SGW 146, aresynchronized (e.g. by static configuration and/or some GTPv2 signalling)to handle the affected bearer contexts (PDN connections) so that: 1) theMMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and PGWs 148 do not delete the contexts upondetection of the SGW restart; and 2) the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 areconfigured to initiate SGW relocation procedures to move the contexts ofthe affected UEs 100 to other SGWs 146 (who serve the same area as therestarted SGW 146) and/or to control restoration of the contexts to therestarted SGW 146 after its recovery.

In accordance with various embodiments of the present invention, aserving gateway support node (S4-SGSN/MME 140,142) is configured torespond to a detected failure of communications to a first SGW 146_1 byinitiating relocation of existing connections through the first SGW146_1 to instead pass through a second SGW 146_2. The serving gatewaysupport node (S4-SGSN/MME 140,142) also responds to a detected recoveryof communications to the first SGW 146_1 by ceasing relocation of atleast some of the existing connections that have not yet been relocatedto the second SGW 146_2. The serving gateway support node (S4-SGSN/MME140,142) may also respond to the first SGW 146_1 having completed arestart by restoring at least some of the existing connections to thefirst SGW 146_1 that have not yet been relocated to the second SGW146_2.

The SGW relocation procedure can use an intra MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 interSGW 146 (i.e. intra MME inter SGW TAU or intra S4-SGSN inter SGW RAU)signalling for the UEs 100 operating with the E-UTRAN 130 or UTRAN/GERAN110,120, respectively. If an affected UE 100 has PDN connections inmultiple PGWs 148 and only some of the PGWs 148 and the MME/S4-SGSN142,140 support relocation and restoration of PDN connection contextsfollowing SGW restart, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 relocations and/orrestores only the PDN connections established in the PGWs 148 thatsupport relocation and restoration of PDN connection contexts. The otherPDN connections in the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the other PGWs 148 arelocally deleted.

In order to restore the bearer (PDN connections) contexts to therestarted SGW 146, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 responds to a detectedfailure of communications to the SGW 146 by repetitively checking therecovery/accessibility of the SGW 146 by sending periodic GTPv2 EchoRequest signalling on the S11/S4 interface. In response to determiningthat the SGW 146 has restarted, by observing an incremented Restartcounter value in a GTPv2 Echo Response from the SGW 146, the MME/S4-SGSN142,140 can start restoring the bearer contexts (PDN connections) to theSGW 146. When the SGW 146 restarted, it lost the PDN connections and,therefore, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can communicate context informationto the restarted SGW 146 for each of the connections restore thoseconnections at the SGW 146. The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may communicatecontext information in GTPv2 Create Session Request messages on S11/S4with the information elements (IEs) that are used for SGW relocationmobility as specified in 3GPP TS 29.274. In some embodiments, theMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can communicate for each PDN connection to berestored context information that includes identification of the PDNconnection, an Internet Protocol address of a packet gateway, atunneling identifier, and/or a Quality of Service value. In response toreceiving the GTPv2 Create Session Request message, the SGW 146 may senda GTPv2 Modify Bearer Request or a PMIPv6 Proxy Binding Update messageon S5/S8 with IEs that are used for SGW relocation mobility as specifiedin 3GPP TS 29.274 and 3GPP TS 29.275.

Before detecting that the SGW 146 has restarted, responsive to receiptof an incremented Restart Counter value, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 maydetect a failure of communications with the SGW 146 for a thresholdtime. The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may respond to the detected failure byinitiating relocation of PDN connections passing through the SGW 146 forthe UEs 100. The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may be informed about failedcommunications with the SGW 146 from the UEs 100, who may observe radiobearer release on S12 and S1-U due to unreachability of the SGW 146and/or who may unsuccessfully try to establish radio bearers to senduplink packet(s), and/or who may be in the process of performingmobility procedures (RAU/TAU/HO). If the SGW 146 remains unavailable dueto, for example, restart, failure, or planned maintenance more than athreshold time, an operator may use the centralized O&M server 154 toinform the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 of the SGW 146 unavailability andinstruct each MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 to initiate relocation of the affectedPDN connections to other SGWs 146.

When the SGW 146 restarts, almost all affected UEs 100, which are indata ECM-CONNECTED/PMM-CONNECTED/GPRS READY state, may be expected tomove to ECM-IDLE/PMM-IDLE/GPRS STANDBY state depending on the RadioAccess Technology (RAT) (e.g., E-UTRAN 130, GERAN 120, UTRAN 110, etc.)that the UEs 100 are currently located on. The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 caninitiate the intra MME/S4-SGSN inter SGW relocation procedure for anaffected UE 100 without waiting for receipt of an uplink NAS message(e.g. Service Request, periodic TAU Request, and periodic RAU Request).In addition, in many situations, the SGW relocation signalling for theaffected UE 100 can be completed within the packet core network withoutinvolving any signalling between the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the UE 100.The signalling flow for the SGW relocation within the packet corenetwork may be the same as what has been specified in the corresponding3GPP specifications TS 23.401 and TS 23.060. For example, in E-UTRAN forGTP-based S5/S8, the message flow corresponds to Messages 301 to 305(described further below) shown in FIG. 3, which illustrates a diagramof operations, methods and associated message flows between variouselements of the radio telecommunications network of FIG. 1 for formingconnections responsive to a UE triggered service request procedure inE-UTRAN and relocating connections according to some embodiments. Insome situations, as required by the 3GPP specifications, signallingtowards the UE 100 might become necessary, for example, because of achange of authorized QoS of a bearer (PDN connection) as a result of theSGW relocation procedure.

For UEs 100 that are in a RRC-CONNECTED state, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140may move those UEs 100 to a RRC-IDLE state by sending S2APUE-CONTEXT-RELEASE-COMMANDs (pursuant to 3GPP TS 36.413) or aIU-RELEASE-COMMANDs (pursuant to 3GPP TS 25.413) to the eNodeB 132 ofthe E-UTRAN 130 and/or the RNC of the UTRAN 110 and/or GERAN 120 beforeperforming the SGW relocation procedure. Optionally, a S1-RESET may besent to the impacted UEs 100, which may provide improved efficiency.

In response to receiving uplink NAS signalling from an affected UE 100,for which the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 has not yet started the SGWrelocation, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can be configured to prioritizerelocation of a PDN connection for that UE 100 from the affected SGW 146to another SGW 146 as part of the UE-initiated signalling. For example,FIG. 3 depicts the UE triggered Service Request signalling flow withadditional GTP-based S5/S8 signalling to carry-out relocation of a SGWPDN connection for a UE that is connected through the E-UTRAN 130. InFIG. 3, the SGW can be either the SGW 146_1 that has recovered from therestart or another SGW 146_2 that has connectivity to both the MME 142and the PGW 148. The additional signalling messages due to the recoveryof the PDN connection are depicted as Messages 301 to 305.

The MME 142_1 responds to a determination that the SGW 146_1 hasrestarted by restoring the PDN connection for the UE 100 back to the SGW146_1. In the exemplary embodiment, the MME 142_1 may communicate aCreate Session Request message 301 to the SGW 146_1, which responds bycommunicating a Modify Bearer Request 302 to the PGW 148. The PGW 148may then exchange messaging 303 with the PCRF 150 to carryout policy andcharging enforcement functions (PCEF) initiated by an IP ConnectivityAccess Network (IP-CAN) session modification. The PGW 148 maycommunicate a Modify Bearer Response message 304 to the SGW 146_1,which, in turn, communicates a Create Session Response message 305 tothe MME 142_1.

Note that the IEs carried in Messages 301 to 305 may be the same as theIEs carried in SGW relocation procedures specified in the 3GPPspecifications for the relevant interfaces. Messages 301 to 305 may alsocontain the IEs (discussed below), which are associated with embodimentsof the SGW restart handling operations and methods. The signallingbetween the PGW 148 and the PCRF 150 may not be necessary when the PDNconnections have been restored to the same SGW 146_1 which restarted.The PGW 148 can determine whether such signalling to the PCRF 150 isnecessary based on the information received in the GTPv2 Modify BearerRequest message from the SGW 146_1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a diagram of further operations, methods andassociated message flows relating to FIG. 3 to setup PDN connections fora UE 100 responsive to a UE triggered service request, which may operateat least in part based on 3GPP TS 23.401. Referring to FIG. 4, a UE 100communicates a NAS Service Request message 401 towards the MME 142_1encapsulated in an RRC message to the eNodeB 132, which forwarded asmessage 402 to the MME 142_1. In response, the UE 100 may beauthenticated and communication encryption may be enabled by furthermessaging 403.

The MME 142_1 communicates a S1-AP Initial Context of the Requestmessage 404 (which can include the SGW address, EPS bearer quality ofservice, etc.) to the eNodeB 132. The eNodeB 132 then performs the radiobearer establishment procedure 405. The user plane security isestablished and the user plane radio bearers are setup. The UE 100 maythen communicate uplink data 406 to the eNodeB 132 for relay through theSGW 146_1 and PGW 148 to the packet network 152 (FIG. 1). The eNodeB 132communicates a S1-AP Initial Context Setup Complete message 407 to theMME 142_1 confirming that the context has been successfully established.The MME 142_1 responds by communicating a Modify Bearer Request message408 to the SGW 146_1. The SGW 146_1 is now able to transmit downlinkdata towards the UE 100.

A Modify Bearer Request 409 can be sent from the SGW 146_1 to the PGW148. The PGW 148 may exchange signalling 410 with the PCRF 150 to obtainupdated QoS information for the PDN connection. The PGW 148 communicatesa responsive Modify Bearer Response message 411 to the SGW 146_1, whichcommunicates a Modify Bearer Response message of 412 to the MME 142_1.

For the UEs 100 that are on the move to the service area of anotherMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 during the detection or the recovery of therestarting SGW 146_1, inter-MME/SGSN inter-SGW mobility signallingshould be performed. In this case, for the TAU/RAU mobility one of thetwo following options could be adapted for the mobility signalling:

Option 1—The source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may relocate the existingconnections that is associated with a UE 100 that is to be handed off toa target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 by communicating a handover message onS3/S10/S16 interface to the other target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 thatidentifies a fake SGW that is known by the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 tonot exist so that the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 will, after identifyingthat the fake SGW does not exist, select another SGW (e.g., SGW 146_n)from among a group of SGWs 146 that it knows exists and will relocatethe existing connections to pass through the selected SGW. By way of aparticular example, the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can inform the targetMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 in the GTPv2 Context Response (3GPP TS 29.274)message that the SGW 146_1, which currently has bearer contexts of UEs100, either is not reachable or has just recovered from a restart (i.e.the SGW 146_1 no longer contains the UE bearer contexts). Upon receptionof such an indication by the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140, it performseither an SGW relocation (relocation of PDN connections that werepassing through SGW 146_1) to a new SGW (e.g., SGW 146_2) (which is notthe one communicated in the Context Response) or an SGW back to the nowrestarted SGW 146_1 (restoration of at least some of the PDNconnections, which passed through SGW 146_1 before the restart, back toSGW 146_1). In some embodiments, the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 providesa fake (i.e. invalid in DNS) SGW Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) forthe SGW and optionally an invalid S11/S4 SGW Fully Qualified TemporaryEndpoint Identifier (F-TEID) for the SGW. Fake FQDN (and optionally aninvalid SGW F-TEID) is a one type of indicator that the sourceMME/S4-SGSN 142, 140 may use towards the target MME/S4-SGSN 142, 140that SGW relocation signalling needs to be performed. Alternatively, thetarget MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may be informed by the source MME/S4-SGSN142, 140 through another type of indicator that relocation of PDNconnections is needed.

Option 2—The source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can perform the SGW relocationbefore sending the GTPv2 Context Response message to the targetMME/S4-SGSN 142,140. The GTPv2 Context Response message would thencontain the identities of the newly allocated SGW 146.

The first option may result in less signalling than the second option.However if the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 does not support relocation ofPDN connections following SGW restart, the second option may then bepreferable. When the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 supports the relocationof PDN connections following SGW restart, the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140may indicate its support level for the feature in the GTPv2 ContextRequest (3GPP TS 29.274) message to the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 sothat the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can select between the two optionsfor SGW relocation.

For UEs 100 that are in the process of handover (HO) signalling, therelocation/restoration procedure can vary depending upon what stage ofHO signalling was occurring when the SGW failure was observed. Forexample, the HO may fail and the UE 100 may go toECM-IDLE/PMM-IDLE/STANDBY state and then may perform RAU/TAU signalling.Alternatively, the HO signalling with SGW relocation may occur but dataforwarding may not be possible due to SGW failure. In this case, ifMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 relocation is required due to HO, the sourceMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may inform the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 to performSGW relocation due to unreachability of the SGW 146. One such approachmay include for the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 to provide a fake (i.e.invalid in DNS) SGW FQDN and optionally an invalid S11/S4 SGW F-TEID.Alternatively, the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may be informed by thesource MME/S4-SGSN 142, 140 through other form of indicator in theS10/S3/S16 GTP messaging that relocation of PDN connections is needed.

Note that in early stages of the SGW restart where the MMEs/S4-SGSNs142,140 have not received the incremented Restart Counter value of theSGW 146 yet and a RAU/TAU/HO signalling for a UE 100 has started, if thetarget MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 decides to re-use the SGW 146 provided in theUE context information received from the source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 andit also detects that the SGW146 is not reachable, the target MME/S4-SGSN142,140 should reselect an alternative SGW 146 for successful RAU/TAU/HOprocedure. This mechanism could still lead successful TAU/RAU/HOsignalling even if the target and/or source MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 does notsupport the optimized SGW restart handling and if the PGW 148 has notdeleted the active PDN connections due to the SGW restart yet.

For UEs 100 who are on the move to a Gn/Gp-SGSN, unavailability of theSGW 146 will not be visible to the target Gn/Gp-SGSN at such mobilitybecause no SGW 146 is in use with Gn/Gp-SGSNs.

For UEs 100 in ISR activated mode there would be context information inboth an MME 142 and an S4-SGSN 140. One of the two following options maybe performed by those UEs 100 to handle SGW relocation without change ofMME and S4-SGSN, where ISR is active:

Option 1: Deactivation of ISR in the UE—If the UE 100 does a TAU/RAUwhile ISR is activated, the procedures for SGW relocation describedabove may be carried out with the current access. The UE 100 is informedthat ISR is deactivated in the TAU/RAU Accept message. After the TAU/RAUprocedure is completed, optionally a new S3 message could be sent to theother node (i.e. SGSN 140 or MME 142) to inform that ISR is deactivated.

Option 2: Maintain the ISR activation—If the UE 100 does a TAU/RAU/HO ora Service Request, the procedures for SGW relocation above work in thecurrent access. A new S3 message carrying the new SGW's FQDN and theS4/S11 SGW F-TEID information is sent from the MME 142 to the S4-SGSN140, or vice versa, after the GTPv2 Create Session Response is received.The S4-SGSN 140 (or MME 142) sends a GTPv2 Modify Bearer Request messageto the SGW activating ISR, such as based on Step 9 of Section 5.3.3.2 ofTS 23.401 or Step 7 of Section 5.3.3.3 of TS 23.401.

Operator Initiated Offloading of SGW Traffic:

In some further embodiments, an operator can initiate SGW relocation tooffload traffic from a SGW 146, such as by operation of the O&M server154.

The idea of the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 performing SGW relocation upondetection of an SGW restart can be extended to offload traffic (i.e. PDNconnections) on a specific SGW 146, i.e. moving the PDN connections ofsome or all UEs 100 to other SGWs 146 in the same service area. Thereason for performing traffic offload for a SGW 146 might be due to aplanned SGW maintenance that causes a SGW to restart or have trafficoutage for a relatively long period of time. In some situations, theoperator may want to perform traffic offload on a SGW 146 such asoffloading a percentage of UEs 100 having PDN connections via a specificSGW 146 or offloading the UEs 100 that have active PDN connections on aspecific APN or offloading the UEs 100 that belong to certain PLMN, etc.For these cases, all or some of the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 can beinstructed via their O&M interfaces or via the centralized O&M server154 to perform SGW relocation for the UEs 100 that fall into thecriteria for the SGW traffic offload. The instructions to theMMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 can contain the node FQDN and/or the S11/S4GTPv2-C Tunnel IP addresses of the SGW that the traffic offload would beexecuted, and optionally the completion time/duration to offload thetraffic and/or the time or duration after when the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140may start reselecting the SGW for new traffic. If some other criteriaare chosen for the traffic offload on a SGW 146, relevant parametersshould be provided to the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140. For example, to movethe UEs 100 that have active PDN connections on a specific APN, the APNinformation need to be included in the instructions.

Once the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 gets the instruction for SGW trafficoffload, it throttles the SGW relocation procedures. The MME/S4-SGSN142,140 chooses the proper SGW 146 for SGW relocation for each impactedUE 100 by using the existing DNS procedures in 3GPP TS 29.303.Offloading all traffic in the SGW 146 could be accomplished by removingthe SGW records under the TAI/RAI FQDNs in the DNS. Note that it willtake DNS Time-To-Live timer setting of the record, before it propagatesto the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140. Therefore clearing cache on MMEs/S4-SGSNs142,140 could be considered.

For the UEs 100 in ECM-IDLE/PMM-IDLE/GPRS STANDBY state, the MME/S4-SGSN142,140 performs intra-MME inter-SGW TAU or intra-S4-SGSN inter-SGW RAUprocedures. For the UEs 100 that are not in ECM-IDLE/PMM-IDLE/GPRSSTANDBY state, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may either wait for them to go toone of those states depending on the radio access, or it may force theUEs 100 to go to such states before performing SGW relocationprocedures.

For UEs 100 that are in TAU/RAU/HO procedures, the target MME/S4-SGSN142,140 may take necessary actions to perform SGW relocation (as per theSGW relocation signalling specified in 3GPP TS 23.401 and 3GPP TS23.060) if those UEs 100 fall into the criteria for SGW traffic offload.

The MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 that were instructed to fully offload an SGW146, should not reselect that SGW 146 for any new UEs 100 for theduration instructed. If the duration of the SGW maintenance takes longerthan planned, new instructions can be sent to the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140to inform them when the SGW 146 would become available. This could beaccomplished by proper configuration of the DNS server(s) for the SGWresolution e.g. by removing the SGW FQDN from the DNS server(s).

Each MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 that has been instructed to offload the traffic(i.e. PDN connections) on an SGW 146, should be able to provide relevantstatistical information such as percent UEs offloaded, when requested.The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may also inform the O&M server 154 when theoffload has been completed (e.g. by logging a relevant event message).

For the case of ISR activated UEs 100 that perform TAU or RAU, the aboveprocedure works for operator initiated SGW relocation may be performed.When the traffic to be offloaded includes UEs that never performTAU/RAU, ISR activation may be maintained in the network as follows:when the UE 100 does a HO without connected mode TAU, the aboveoperations and procedures for SGW relocation may be performed. If the UE100 does a Service Request the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can perform the sameprocedures to core network as a TAU/RAU with SGW change then it does theservice request (e.g. similar to the handling of the service requestprocedure in FIG. 3). Note since the UE 100 cannot be informed that ISRis deactivation due to SGW relocation, an S3 message carrying the newSGW's FQDN and the S4/S11 SGW F-TEID information can be sent from theMME 142 to the S4-SGSN 140, or vice versa (depending on whether the MME142 or S4-SGSN 140 sent the S3 message), after the GTPv2 Create SessionResponse is received. The S4-SGSN 140 (or the MME 142) can then send aGTPv2 Modify Bearer Request message to the SGW 146 activating ISR basedon Step 9 of Section 5.3.3.2 of 3GPP TS 23.401 or Step 7 of Section5.3.3.3 of 3GPP TS 23.401.

Relocation and Restoration of Connections Responsive to SGW Restart:

FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram of operations, methods and associatedmessage flows between a serving gateway support node (e.g., MME/S4-SGSN142,140), first and second SGWs 146_1 and 146_2, and a PGW 148 thatoccur to relocate some PDN connections and restore other PDN connectionsresponsive to one of the SGWs 146_1 restarting and/or responsive to amessage from an operator. Referring to FIG. 5, SGW1 146_1 represents theSGW that experiences a restart and SGW2 146_2 represents another one ofthe SGWs 146 that is connectivity to both the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 andthe PGW 148. In a typical deployment it is expected that there would bemore than one SGW 146 connected to a MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and a PGW 148.

Although various operations are described below for relocating some PDNconnections from SGW1 to SGW2 and restoring other PDN connections backto SGW1 in the context of being initiated in response to detecting thatSGW1 is undergoing a restart operation, the relocation and restorationoperations may alternatively or additionally be initiated by an operator(e.g., via the O&M Server 154) communicating messages to MME/S4-SGSN142,140 and the PGW 148 offload connections from SGW1, such as aresponse by the operator from observing that SGW1 is undergoing lengthyrestart operations.

In block 500, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the PGW 148 performcommunication to synchronize how they will respond to any SGWs restarts.For example, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the PGW 148 can identify toeach other that they support relocation of PDN connections whencommunication with a SGW (SGW1) fails (e.g., due to restart). TheMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may, for example, signal the PGW 148 to not deletecertain identified UE PDN connections upon detecting that an identifiedserving SGW (SGW 1) has restarted, and so that those PDN connections cancontinue to be used after the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 as relocated at leastsome of the PDN connections to another SGW (SGW2) and/or has restored atleast some of the PDN connections back to a restart SGW. Alternativelyor additionally, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may communicate signals to SGW1informing it to not report to the PGW 148 when it has restarted in orderto avoid the PDW 148 deleting PDN connections that are being relocatedto SGW2 and/or being restored back to SGW1.

Such synchronization communications between the MME/S4-SGSN and the PGWcan include one of the following four options:

Option 1: PDN connection level capability exchange—The MMEs/S4-SGSNs142,140 and PGWs 148 can exchange their capabilities to support the PDNconnection relocation procedures following SGW restart. The informationmay be stored as part of context information for each PDN connection andmay be sent to the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 during RAU/TAU/HOprocedures at MME/S4-SGSN relocation. During MME/S4-SGSN relocations,such a capability exchange between the new MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and thePGW 148 should take place unless all the nodes involved (i.e. sourceMME/S4-SGSN 142,140, target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and PGW 148) support thefeature. This method of PDN connection level feature capability exchangemay also require support in SGWs 146 (and possibly the PCRF 150 forPMIP-based S5/S8) to pass the relevant IEs between MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140and PGWs 148.

Option 2: Static configuration in MME/S4-SGSN and PGW—The MMEs/S4-SGSNs142,140, which support the PDN connection relocation feature, should beconfigured with the APNs (i.e. APN-NI+APN-OI) and/or the FQDNs of thePGWs 148 that support the PDN connection relocation feature. In additionthe MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 may also be configured to know when theoptimized SGW restart handling is applicable for the PDN connectionswith PMIP-based and/or GTP-based S5/S8 interfaces. Similarly, the PGWs148, which support the feature, should be configured with the PLMNs(i.e. MCC+MNC) and optionally the RATs (i.e., GERA, UTRA, E-UTRA) of theMMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 for which the feature is supported. Knowing thesupport level for each RAT could also be used as an indication whetherMMEs 142 and/or S4-SGSNs 140 in the PLMN support the feature. The PGWs148 may also be configured whether the optimized SGW restart handling isapplicable for the PDN connections with PMIP-based S5/S8 and/orGTP-based S5/S8 for each PLMN.

In view of the 3GPP specifications requiring that PLMN change (using theGTPv2 Serving Network IE) and/or RAT change (using the GTPv2 RAT TypeIE) of an active PDN connection must be communicated to the PGW 148, thePGWs 148 can always have this information up to date. Similarly the APNand the S5/S8 protocol type of each PDN connection are always availablein the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the PGW 148. Therefore based on thisinformation per PDN connection and the static configuration, theMMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and the PGWs 148 can figure out which PDNconnections would be maintained upon detection of the SGW restart forSGW relocation.

Option 3: DNS based configuration in MME/S4-SGSN and PGW—This method issimilar to the previous method of static configuration. However, in thiscase, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 gets the indication for the optimized SGWrestart handling feature support level (i.e. by adding a new NAPTRservice field) and also the applicable S5/S8 interface type (i.e. GTPand/or PMIP) of the PGW 148 from the DNS server during the APNresolution as per the procedures in TS 29.303. The APN records in theDNS server needs to be properly configured to indicate such a featuresupport in the PGW 148. The PGW's feature support indication may be sentto the target MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 during MME/S4-SGSN relocation as partof bearer context information, even though the target MME/S4-SGSN142,140 is likely to populate similar information when establishing PDNconnections for some other UEs 100 towards the same PGW 148.

The PGW may use DNS to find out the feature support level of the PLMN,e.g. indication of “supported” or “not_supported”, and also, if“supported”, the support level for each RAT and S5/S8 protocol type(i.e. GTP and/or PMIP). In this case the PGW 148 can perform proper DNSquery(ies) for a PLMN, gets the relevant feature support levels for thatPLMN. Any combination of this method with the previous method of staticconfiguration could also be used. For example, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140may use the DNS based method while the PGW 148 may use staticconfiguration.

Option 4: MME/S4-SGSN/SGW common support for the feature—This methodcould be an alternative when the PGW 148 does not support the PDNrelocation feature. All SGWs 146 in an SGW service area behave asfollows and MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 that employ this SGW service area areaware of this behavior (i.e. the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and the SGW 146support this feature so there is no need to negotiate between theMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the SGW 146 and, instead, the feature is turnedon for the SGW service area). When the SGWs 146_1 in the SGW pool 146restarts, the SGW1 146_1 does not send an incremented Restart Countervalue on GTPv2 S5/S8. For PMIP based S5/S8 the SGW1 146_1 does not resetthe PCRF links. The SGW1 146_1 does not send Error Indication on S5/S8GTPv1 user plane. Hence, the PGW 148 is unaware that the SGW1 146_1restarted. The PGW 148 will detect some PDN connections are not validwhen it sends S5/S8 messages triggered by PCRF 150 (e.g. S5/S8 UpdateBearer Request, Delete Bearer Request) but the majority of PDNconnections will not be impacted. The MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 are aware ofSGW1 146_1 restart and initiate the SGW relocation procedure explainedherein.

The method of Option 1 allows the PDN relocation feature to beapplicable per PDN-connection level. Because the feature support levelof the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 in use for the PDN connection is alwayscommunicated to the PGW 148 during MME/S4-SGSN relocation, differentfeature support levels in the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 are manageable. Oneof the potential drawbacks is the necessity of extra S5/S8 signalling ifsuch signalling is not needed during inter MME/S4-SGSN intra SGWmobility. Another potential drawback is difficulty with backwardscompatibility, i.e. if some MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 or SGWs 146 in thenetwork do not support the new IEs introduced with this capabilityexchange, or GTPv2, then the feature may become not so usable unless3GPP introduces a new mechanism to exchange information exchange betweenthe MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and PGWs 148.

The method of Options 2 and 3 may not have the potential drawbacks ofOption 1 because they rely on the feature support in all MMEs 142 and/orS4-SGSNs 140 in the network. However, Options 2 and 3 may require someextra configuration or DNS signalling to maintain the feature supporttables in MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and PGWs 148.

The method of Option 4 has a potential advantage that the PGW 148 is notrequired to support this feature. Because it is common for an operatorto have all MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 and SGWs 146 in a MME pool/SGW servicearea with common features, this method may be more easily implemented.No feature support indication is therefore needed if this constraint ismet. A potential drawback is it may require that the SGW 146 restartsfaster than the PGW's T3*N3 timer expires for S5/S8 Echo Request (or theSGW 146 would need to reply to Echo Request during the SGW restart).

For the PDN connections where PMIP-based S5/S8 is in use with dynamicpolicy provisioning, i.e. where the restarted SGW1 146_1 has connectionswith vPCRF(s) and/or hPCRF(s), if/when the PCRF detects the restart ofthe SGW1 146_1, it should ignore such restart indication. In otherwords, the vPCRF or the hPCRF should not initiate any procedure todelete an affected PDN connection towards the associated PGW 148. ThePGW 148 should be able to control what PDN connections need to bedeleted or kept active for the optimized SGW restart handling. If suchbehavior in the PCRF 150 can not be secured, the optimized SGW restarthandling may exclude the PDN connections with PMIP based S5/S8.

In block 502, one or more events cause SGW1 146_1 to initiate restartoperations.

The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 checks the reachability of the peer SGWs 146,including SGW1 146_1, for which it has activated PDN connections for UEs100. The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 checks the reachability of the SGW (in thiscase, SGW1 146_1) periodically using, for example, GTPv2 Echo Requestsignalling so that it could get the SGW's Restart Counter value in aGTPv2 Echo Response message as soon as SGW1 146_1 becomes accessibleafter restarting. In block 504, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 detects thatcommunications with SGW1 146_1 have failed responsive to not receiving aresponse from SGW1 146_1 within a threshold time.

In block 508, MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 continues to check the reachability ofthe SGW (in this case, SGW1 146_1) periodically using, for example,GTPv2 Echo Request signalling so that it could get the SGW's RestartCounter value in a GTPv2 Echo Response message as soon as SGW1 146_1becomes accessible after restarting.

Upon detecting failed communications with SGW1 146_1, the MME/S4-SGSN146_1 should start a timer, block 508, e.g. called “SGW relocationtimer_in_MME/SGSN”. In block 510, MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 marks all affectedUEs' PDN connections as “to_be_SGW_relocated,” and initiates relocationof the affected UEs' PDN connections to SGW2 146_2 and/or other SGWs 146as explained above. In block 514, the SGW2 146_2 and any other SGWs 146that receive context information from the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 store thatcontext information associated with the identified PDN connections andperform operations, such as those described above for FIGS. 3 and 4, tocomplete relocation of the identified PDN connections. The contextinformation received by SGW2 146_2 may include, for each of the PDNconnections that is to be restored through SGW2 146_2, identification ofthe PDN connection, an Internet Protocol address of the associated PGW148, a tunneling identifier, a Quality of Service value, and/or a bearerID.

The “SGW_relocation_timer_in_MME/SGSN” may be a pre-configured timer inthe MME/S4-SGSN and its value may be defined by the operator based onhow long it might take to perform intra MME/S4-SGSN inter SGW relocationprocedures for the affected UEs. In block 516, upon expiry of the timer,the affected PDN connections, which have not been restored in SGW1 orrelocated to any other SGWs yet, are deleted. The timer may beparticularly useful when the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 is not able to completethe SGW relocation due to reasons such as signalling/processor capacitylimitations in the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140, SGW 146 or PGW 148, or transportnetwork capacity limitations, etc. If an operator does not have a tightrestriction on how long the SGW relocation signalling should becompleted (in this case relocation signalling will most likely to becompleted within duration of largest periodic TAU/RAU timer valueassigned to UEs 100 based on occurrence of uplink NAS signalling), then“SGW_relocation_timer_in_MME/SGSN” can be set to a value as high as theperiodic TAU/RAU timer.

A timer, e.g. called “SGW_relocation_timer_in_PGW”, in the PGW 148 mayalso be used in block 530 for a similar purpose as the correspondingtimer in the MME/S4-SGSN. Additionally the timer in the PGW 148 can beused to ensure the clean up of the PDN connections if the MME/S4-SGSN142,140 is not able to perform the SGW relocation (e.g. due to itsrestart before performing SGW relocations for some or all affectedconnections). The expiry of these timers in the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 andPGW 148 should be aligned as much as possible. The values of thesetimers may be set based on the mechanisms described in block 500. Forexample, if the method of option 1 is used, the timer values can beexchanged between the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the PGW 148 every time acapability exchange between the nodes for the support of the feature isperformed. If options 2 or 3 are used, the timer values can be set viastatic configuration or via DNS signalling or a combination of both. Itmay be more important to include the timer in the PGW 148 than in theMME/S4-SGSN 142,140, because the timer in the PGW 148 allows clean-up ofhanging PDN connections.

How long it takes for SGW1 146_1 to restart can vary depending upon theinternal configuration of SGW1 146_1 and what event triggered restart.Some SGWs require at least a few minutes to complete restart procedures,however it may take much longer for a SGW to return to service afterinitiation of a restart. The MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and the PGW 148 may, insome embodiments, rely on the reception of the incremented RestartCounter from SGW1 146_1 to detect when SGW1 146_1 has completed restartprocedures is ready for restoration of any PDN connections. However, asexplained above, in block 512 MME/S4-SGSN 142,140, as a configurationoption, may start moving the PDN connections of the affected UEs 100 toother SGWs (e.g. SGW2 146_2) after it detects the failure of SGW1 146_1or a transport link failure towards SGW1 146_1 (that prevents anysignalling exchange between the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and SGW1 146_1), ormay start moving the PDN connections in response to a message from anoperator.

After the communication link between the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 and SGW1146_1 again becomes available, at block 518, the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140checks the value of the Restart Counter in the GTPv2 Echo Responsemessage received from SGW1 146_1 to determine, at block 520, if SGW 1146_1 has restarted and, therefore lost its PDN connection contextinformation, or has not restarted and therefore should still have itsPDN connection context information. When the value of the RestartCounter differs from the value SGW1 146_1 communicated before thecommunication failure, MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may continue the SGWrelocation process for the rest of the affected UEs 100.

However, in accordance with some embodiments, at block 522, when theMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 determines that SGW1 146_1 has restarted,MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 can restore at least some of the affected PDNconnections back to SGW 1 146_1 which have not yet been relocated toanother SGW (e.g., SGW2 146_2). In particular, MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 cancommunicate context information to SGW 1 146_1 for each of the PDNconnections that is to be restored back to SGW 1 146_1. The contextinformation that is received by SGW1 146_1, at block 524, may include,for each of the PDN connections that is to be restored, identificationof the PDN connection, an Internet Protocol address of the associatedPGW 148, a tunneling identifier, a Quality of Service value, and/or abearer ID. SGW1 146_1 uses the received context information to restorethe PDN connections through the SGW1 146_1.

Returning to block 520, when SGW1 146_1 has not changed its RestartCounter value, which means that SGW1 146_1 did not restart, theMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 stops the SGW relocation process and the PDNconnections are considered to be valid and, therefore, the connectionsthat were previously marked “to_be_SGW_relocated” in blocks 510 and 532are now unmarked if they have not yet been relocated to SGW2 146_2.Additionally, when it is determined that SGW1 146_1 did not restart, thetimers of blocks 508 and 530 are reset. Accordingly, the MMEs/S4-SGSNs142,140 and the PGWs 148 that support the optimized SGW restarthandling, may not immediately conclude that a detected communicationfailure with a SGW is necessarily an indication that the SGW hasrestarted.

For SGWs 146 that have or are expected to have longer restart duration,the operator may also inform all MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 who have activePDN connections in the restarted SGW 146 (e.g. by means of an O&Mserver) so that they may start the SGW relocation process earlier thanthe reception of the Restart Counter from SGW1 146_1.

The PGW 148 also needs to check the accessibility of the peer SGWs 146for which it has activated PDN connections for UEs 100. At block 526,the PGW 148 checks the reachability of the SGW (in this case, SGW1146_1) periodically using GTPv2 Echo Request or PMIPv6 Heartbeat Requestsignalling and identifies that communications with SGW1 146_1 havefailed when a response is not received within a threshold time. At block528, the PGW 148 continues checking for the reachability of the SGW1146_1 using GTPv2 Echo Request or PMIPv6 Heartbeat Request signalling toget the SGW's Restart Counter value in the corresponding responsemessage as soon as SGW1 146_1 becomes accessible after completing therestart procedures.

At block 530, upon detection of the failure of SGW 1, the PGW 148 canstart a timer, e.g. called “SGW_relocation_timer_in_PWG”. At block 532,the PGW 148 may mark all affected PDN connections as“to_be_SGW_relocated”. At block 534, the PGW 148 waits for theMME/S4-SGSN 142,140 to perform the intra MME/S4-SGSN inter SGWrelocation procedures to restore the PDN connections back in SGW1 146_1and/or any other SGWs (e.g. SGW2 146_2).

The usage and the potential setting of timer“SGW_relocation_timer_in_PGW” can be as described above for block 508.While the PGW 148 has been waiting for the MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 toperform the SGW relocation/restoration for the affected PDNconnections/EPS bearers, the PGW 148 should not forward any user orcontrol plane downlink packets for those PDN connections/EPS bearers onthe S5/S8 interface. The PGW 148 may buffer most recent packets (e.g.packets received in last 10 seconds) for those EPS bearers/PDNconnections to be transferred after their successful relocation to SGW1146_1 or SGW2 146_2. If a GTPv1 Error Indication (3GPP TS 29.281)message or an ICMP message for a PMIP-based S5/S8 is received on theS5/S8 interface for a bearer/PDN connection that has been marked as“to_be_SGW_relocated”, the PGW 148 should not delete the correspondingbearer.

As described above, how long SGW1 146_1 remains unavailable during itsrestart can vary depending upon its internal configuration and whatevent triggered the restart. The PGW 148 may rely on the reception ofthe incremented Restart Counter from the SGW1 146_1 for the detection ofcompletion of the restart. After the communication link between the PGW148 and SGW1 146_1 becomes available, the PGW 148 checks the value ofthe Restart Counter in the GTPv2 Echo Response or PMIPv6 HeartbeatResponse message received from SGW1: If the value of the Restart Counterdiffers from the value SGW1 146_1 communicated before the failure, asdescribed in previous paragraph, the PGW 148 should start a timer, e.g.called “SGW_relocation_timer_in_PGW”, and marks all affected PDNconnections as “to_be_SGW_relocated”, and wait for the MME/S4-SGSN toperform the SGW relocation procedures. If SGW1 146_1 has not changed itsRestart Counter value, which means SGW1 146_1 has not restarted, the PDNconnections that have been established via SGW1 146_1 are considered tobe valid.

At block 536, when the “SGW_relocation_timer_in_PGW” timer expires, anyaffected PDN connections that have been marked as “to_be_SGW_relocated”but have not yet been restored to SGW1 146_1 or relocated to one or moreother SGWs (e.g., SGW2 146_2) are deleted from the PGW 148. In theexample operations of FIG. 5, at block 538 the PGW 148 receives an Echoresponse message from SGW1 146_1 responsive to an Echo request messagethat it communicated to SGW1 146_1, and PGW 148 determines thereforethat communications have been restored to SGW1 146_1. The Echo responsecan contain a Restart Counter that indicates to the PGW 148 whether SGW1146_1 has restarted. PGW 148 can then respond by resetting therelocation timer (e.g., “SGW_relocation_timer”).

Although the operations of FIG. 5 for offloading PDN connections fromSGW1 146_1 have been described in the context of being carried out inresponse to detecting a failure of communication to SGW1, in some otherembodiments an operator may initiate the relocation of connections fromSGW1 146_1 in response to observing that SGW1 146_1 is undergoingrestart operations (e.g., restart operations are observed to be takingmore than a threshold time). Moreover, in some other embodiments, theoperator may initiate the relocation in response to a desire/need tooffload at least some traffic from a particular SGW. Accordingly, PDNconnections can be offloaded from a SGW in response to events that caninclude, but are not limited to, a serving gateway support nodedetecting a failure of communications to the SGW, a command from anoperator who has observed that the SGW is undergoing restart, and/or acommand from an operator who desires/needs to offload at least sometraffic from a particular SGW.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagram of further operations, methods andassociated message flows for an operator initiated relocation ofconnections through SGWs 146 according to some embodiments. Referring toFIG. 6, the O&M server 154 instructs the MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 tooffload traffic that uses a specific SGW 146. These commands may also beprovided to the associated MMEs/S4-SGSNs 142,140 via their command lineinterfaces.

The O&M server 154 sends a command 601,601n to each MME/S4-SGSN 142,140(e.g., MME1/S4-SGSN1 and MMEn/S4-SGSNn) that may currently use aspecified SGW 146 from which traffic will be offloaded. The command cancontain the node FQDN and/or the S11/S4 GTPv2-C Tunnel IP addresses ofthe specified SGW 146. The command may also contain the completiontime/duration to offload the traffic or the time or duration after whenthe MME/S4-SGSN 142,140 may start reselecting the SGW 146 for newtraffic. If some other criteria are chosen for the traffic offload onthe SGW 146, relevant parameters can be provided to the MMEs/S4-SGSNs142,140.

MME1/S4-SGSN1 and MMEn/S4-SGSNn receives the command for SGW trafficoffload and may send an acknowledgement message 602,602n, respectively,to the O&M server 154 that indicates the command has been received. TheMME1/S4-SGSN1 and MMEn/S4-SGSNn also starts performing the SGWrelocation procedure for some or all UEs 100 based on the offloadcriteria received in the command.

Operations and Methods for Relocating and Restoring Connections:

Various operations and methods that are performed by a serving gatewaysupport node, a serving gateway, and a packet gateway, to carry out andsupport relocation of connects from one serving gateway to another andto further support relocations of connections back to a serving gatewaywill now be described below with regard to FIGS. 7-17.

FIGS. 7-13 are flowcharts of operations and methods by a serving gatewaysupport node (MME/S4-SGSN 142,140) for controlling connections that passthrough at least one SGW 146_1 . . . 146_n of a radio telecommunicationsnetwork.

Referring to FIG. 7, the serving gateway support node (MME/S4-SGSN142,140) detects (block 700) failure of communications to a firstserving gateway 146_1. The serving gateway support node responds (block702) to the detected failure by the serving gateway support nodeinitiating relocation of existing connections through the first servinggateway 146_1 to instead pass through a second serving gateway 146_2.The serving gateway support node subsequently detects (block 704)recovery of communications to the first serving gateway 146_1, andresponds to the detected recovery by ceasing relocation (block 706) ofat least some of the existing connections that have not yet beenrelocated to pass through the second serving gateway 146_2.

Referring to FIG. 8, the serving gateway support node may detect (block800) that the first serving gateway 146_1 has completed a restart. Theserving gateway support node may then respond to the detected restart byrestoring (block 802) at least some of the existing connections to thefirst serving gateway 146_1 that have not yet been relocated to passthrough the second serving gateway 146_2.

Referring to FIG. 9, the serving gateway support node may restore atleast some of the existing connections to the first serving gateway146_1 by communicating (block 900) context information to the firstserving gateway 146_1 for each of the existing connections that is to berestored to the first serving gateway 146_1. The communicated contextinformation may include identification of the connection, an InternetProtocol address of a packet gateway, a tunneling identifier, a Qualityof Service value, and/or a bearer ID.

Referring to FIG. 10, the serving gateway support node may receive(block 1000) messages from a first group of user equipment nodes UEs 100indicating that they each have at least one packet awaitingcommunication through a first group of connections through the firstserving gateway 146_1. The serving gateway support node may alsodetermine (block 1002) that a second group of user equipment nodes UEs100 have a second group of connections through the first serving gateway146_1 and that each of the second group of user equipment nodes UEs 100has no packet awaiting communication. The serving gateway support nodemay respond (block 1004) by relocating all of the first group ofconnections to the second serving gateway 146_2 before relocating thesecond group of connections to the second serving gateway 146_2.Accordingly, relocation of the first group of connections can be carriedout a higher priority than relocation of the second group ofconnections.

Referring to FIG. 11, the serving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN140_1) may detect (block 1100) an event that triggers handover of a userequipment node UE 100, which has not yet been relocated to the secondserving gateway 146_2, from the serving gateway support node (e.g.,S4-SGSN 140_1) to another serving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN140_2). The detected event may, for example, correspond to a trackingarea update, or a routing area update signalling. The serving gatewaysupport node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_1) may respond thereto by relocating(block 1102) a first one of the existing connections associated with theuser equipment node UE 100 by communicating from the serving gatewaysupport node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_1) to the other serving gateway support(e.g., S4-SGSN 140_2) an instruction in a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP)message to carry out relocation of the first existing connection fromthe serving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_1) to the otherserving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_2).

Referring to FIG. 12, the serving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN140_1) may detect (block 1200) an event that triggers handover of a userequipment node UE 100, which has not yet been relocated to the secondserving gateway 146_2, from the serving gateway support node (e.g.,S4-SGSN 140_1) to another serving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN140_2). The serving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_1) mayrespond thereto by communicating (block 1202) a message to the otherserving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_2) that identifies aninvalid Fully Qualified Domain Name for the first serving gateway, aninvalid Fully Qualified Temporary Endpoint Identifier for the firstserving gateway, or another indicator that relocation of connections toa serving gateway is needed. The message can thereby cause the otherserving gateway support node (e.g., S4-SGSN 140_2) to select a thirdserving gateway 146_3 from among a group of serving gateways (e.g.,146_1 . . . 146_n) that it knows exists and to relocate the firstexisting connection to pass through the third serving gateway 146_3. Thethird serving gateway 146_3 may correspond to the first serving gateway146_1, the second serving gateway 146_2, or another serving gateway.

Referring to FIG. 13, the serving gateway support node may respond(block 1300) to expiration of a threshold time since having startedrelocation of the existing connections and a continuing failure ofcommunications to the first serving gateway 146_1, by ceasing relocationof any remaining ones of the existing connections that have not yet beenrelocated to pass through the second serving gateway 146_2.

FIGS. 14-15 are flowcharts of operations and methods by a servinggateway support node, such as MME/S4-SGSN 142,140, for controllingconnections that pass through at least one serving gateway 146_1 . . .146_n of a radio telecommunications network responsive to operatorinitiated traffic offloading according to some embodiments.

Referring to FIG. 14, the serving gateway support node receives (block1400) from an operator (e.g., via the O&M Server 154) a first messagerequesting that at least some connections be offloaded from a firstserving gateway 146_1. The serving gateway support node responds (block1402) to the first message by relocating at least some of theconnections from the first serving gateway 146_1 to a second servinggateway 146_2.

Referring to FIG. 15, the serving gateway support node responds (block1500) to the first message by instructing user equipment nodes (UEs100), which are associated with each of the connections to be relocated,to move to an ECM-idle, PMM-idle, or GPRS-standby state (to release anyactive radio bearers) before the serving gateway support node relocatesthe corresponding connections to the second serving gateway 146_2.

In some embodiments, relocation of at least some of the connections fromthe first serving gateway to a second serving gateway in block 1402 ofFIG. 14, can include relocating existing connections for a userequipment node, which is active in an Idle state Signalling Reduction(ISR) mode and is registered with both a S4-based Serving GPRS SupportNode (S4-SGSN) and a Mobility Management Entity (MME) at a same time, bytransferring context information for the first serving gateway through aS3 message from one of the S4-SGSN and MME to the other one of theS4-SGSN and MME

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of operations and methods by a serving gateway146_1 to support relocation and restoration of connections by a servinggateway support node (MME/S4-SGSN 142,140) according to someembodiments. The serving gateway 146_1 receives (block 1600) aconnection restoration message from the serving gateway support nodeafter the serving gateway 146_1 has restarted. The serving gateway 146_1responds (block 1602) to the connection restoration message by restoringin memory of the serving gateway 146_1 at least some connections, whichexisted before the serving gateway 146_1 restarted, between userequipment nodes UEs 100 and a packet-based network 148 that passedthrough the serving gateway 146_1.

The serving gateway 146_1 may respond to the connection restorationmessage by restoring context information in its local memory for each ofthe existing connections that is to be restored. The context informationmay include identification of the connection, an Internet Protocoladdress of a packet gateway, a tunneling identifier, and/or a Quality ofService value. The serving gateway 146_1 can then restore each of thoseconnections to transport communications between various UEs 100 and thepacket gateway 148 through the serving gateway 146_1.

The serving gateway 146_1 may be configured to selectively not report tothe packet gateway 148 that it has restarted in response to anothermessage from the serving gateway support node that indicates that theserving gateway support node will attempt to restore connections afterthe serving gateway 146_1 restarts.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of operations and methods by a packet gateway 148to support relocation of connections by a serving gateway support node(MME/S4-SGSN 142,140) according to some embodiments. The packet gateway148 determines (block 1700) whether a serving gateway support node(MME/S4-SGSN 142,140) supports a connection relocation mode throughwhich the serving gateway support node relocates connections from afirst serving gateway 146_1 of a radio telecommunications network to asecond serving gateway 146_2 in response to the serving gateway supportnode detecting failure of communications to the first serving gateway146_1. The packet gateway 148 detects (block 1702) failure ofcommunications to the first serving gateway 146_1. The packet gateway148 responds (block 1704) to the detected failure of communications tothe first serving gateway 146_1 and to determining that the servinggateway support node supports the connection relocation mode byretaining in a memory of the packet gateway 148 context information forany connections that the packet gateway 148 has that pass through thefirst serving gateway 146_1. The packet gateway 148 responds (block1706) to the detected failure of communications to the first servinggateway and to determining that the serving gateway support node doesnot support the connection relocation mode by deleting from the memoryof the packet gateway 148 the context information for any connectionsthat the packet gateway has that pass through the first serving gateway146_1.

The packet gateway 148 may be further configured to detect failure ofcommunications to the first serving gateway 146_1 by detecting when thefirst serving gateway 146_1 has restarted. The packet gateway 148 mayrespond to detecting that the first serving gateway 146_1 has restartedand to determining that the serving gateway support node supports theconnection relocation mode by retaining in the memory of the packetgateway 148 the context information for any connections that the packetgateway 148 has that pass through the first serving gateway 146_1. Thepacket gateway 148 may respond to detecting that the first servinggateway 146_1 has restarted and to determining that the serving gatewaysupport node does not support the connection relocation mode by deletingfrom the memory of the packet gateway 148 the context information forany connections that the packet gateway 148 has that pass through thefirst serving gateway 146_1.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram of a network node 1800 that is configuredaccording to some embodiments. The network node 1800 which may be usedin one or more of the network nodes of FIG. 1, including, but notlimited to, the S4-SGSN 140, the MME 142, the SGW 146, the PGW 148, thePCRF 150, the HSS 144, the O&M Server 154, and/or the UE 100. Thenetwork node 1800 can include one or more network interfaces 1830,processor circuitry 1810, and memory circuitry/devices 1820 that containfunctional modules 1822.

The processor circuitry 1810 may include one or more data processingcircuits, such as a general purpose and/or special purpose processor(e.g., microprocessor and/or digital signal processor). The processorcircuitry 1810 is configured to execute computer program instructionsfrom the functional modules 1822 in the memory circuitry/devices 1820,described below as a computer readable medium, to perform some or all ofthe operations and methods that are described above for one or more ofthe embodiments, such as the embodiments of FIGS. 1-17. Accordingly, theprocessor circuitry 1810 can be configured by execution of the computerprogram instructions in the functional modules 1822 to carry out atleast some of the functionality described herein to support relocationand restoration of connections through SGW in a radio telecommunicationsnetwork.

Abbreviations:

A list of abbreviations used in the present disclosure is provided belowfor ease of reference of the reader:

-   -   3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project    -   APN Access Point Name    -   APN-NI APN Network Identifier    -   APN-OI APN Operator Identifier    -   CDR Charging Data Record    -   DHCP Dynamic Host COnfiguration Protocol    -   DNS Domain Name System    -   eNodeB E-UTRAN NodeB    -   EPC Evolved Packet COre    -   EPS Evolved Packet System    -   E-UTRA Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access    -   E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network    -   FQDN Fully Qualified Domain Name    -   F-TEID Fully Qualified Temporary Endpoint Identifier    -   GERA GSM EDGE Radio Access    -   GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network    -   Gn/Gp SGSN SGSN with Gn/Gp interface    -   GTP GPRS Tunnelling Protocol    -   GTPv2 GTP Version 2    -   GTPv2-C GTPv2 Control Plane    -   HO Handover    -   hPCRF Home PCRF    -   HSS Home Subscriber Server    -   IE Information Element    -   IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem    -   ISR Idle state Signalling Reduction    -   MM Mobility Management    -   MME Mobility Management Entity    -   MCC Mobile Country Code    -   MNC Mobile Network Code    -   NAS Non-Access Stratum    -   P-CSCF Proxy Call Session Control Function    -   PCRF Policy and Charging Rules Function    -   PDN Packet Data Network    -   PDP Packet Data Protocol    -   PGW Packet GateWay    -   PLMN Public Land Mobile Network    -   PMIP/PMIPv6 Proxy Mobile IP version 6    -   PS Packet Switched    -   RNC Radio Network Controller    -   QoS Quality of Service    -   RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service    -   RAU Routing Area Update    -   S4-SGSN SGSN with S4-interface    -   SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node    -   SGW Serving GateWay    -   SMS Short Message Service    -   TAU Tracking Area Update    -   UE User Equipment    -   UTRA UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access    -   UTRAN UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network    -   VoLTE Voice Over LTE    -   vPCRF Visited PCRF

In the above-description of various embodiments of the presentinvention, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein isfor the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is notintended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, allterms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have thesame meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the artto which this invention belongs. It will be further understood thatterms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should beinterpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning inthe context of this specification and the relevant art and will not beinterpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense expressly so definedherein.

When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”,“responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directlyconnected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or interveningelements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to asbeing “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”,or variants thereof to another element, there are no interveningelements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereofas used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described indetail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” includes any andall combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”,“include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variantsthereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features,integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not precludethe presence or addition of one or more other features, integers,elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore,as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from theLatin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify ageneral example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is notintended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”,which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify aparticular item from a more general recitation.

Example embodiments are described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods,apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. Itis understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer programinstructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. Thesecomputer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit ofa general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit,and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine,such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of thecomputer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transformand control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and otherhardware components within such circuitry to implement thefunctions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block orblocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block(s).

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangiblecomputer-readable medium that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/orflowchart block or blocks.

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium may include anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, or semiconductor datastorage system, apparatus, or device. More specific examples of thecomputer-readable medium would include the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM) circuit, a read-onlymemory (ROM) circuit, an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory) circuit, a portable compact disc read-only memory(CD-ROM), and a portable digital video disc read-only memory(DVD/BlueRay).

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computerand/or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer and/or otherprogrammable apparatus to produce a computer-implemented process suchthat the instructions which execute on the computer or otherprogrammable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks.Accordingly, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied inhardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software,micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signalprocessor, which may collectively be referred to as “circuitry,” “amodule” or variants thereof

It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, thefunctions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted inthe flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in factbe executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes beexecuted in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/actsinvolved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowchartsand/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or thefunctionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or blockdiagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks maybe added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated. Moreover,although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths toshow a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood thatcommunication may occur in the opposite direction to the depictedarrows.

Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connectionwith the above description and the drawings. It will be understood thatit would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe andillustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments.Accordingly, the present specification, including the drawings, shall beconstrued to constitute a complete written description of variousexample combinations and subcombinations of embodiments and of themanner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims toany such combination or subcombination.

Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments withoutsubstantially departing from the principles of the present invention.All such variations and modifications are intended to be included hereinwithin the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A serving gateway support node that controlsconnections through at least one serving gateway of a radiotelecommunications network, the serving gateway support node comprisingcircuitry configured to: detect failure of communications to a firstserving gateway; detect an event triggering handover of a user equipmentnode, the event triggering handover including one or more of a trackingarea update, a routing area update, a radio handover, or a radio releasewith redirection; detect at the serving gateway support node the eventtriggering handover of a user equipment node, which has not yet beenrelocated to the second serving gateway, from the serving gatewaysupport node to another serving gateway support node; initiaterelocation of existing connections through the first serving gateway toinstead pass through a second serving gateway in response to thedetected failure of communications and the event triggering handover;relocate a first one of the existing connections associated with theuser equipment node by communicating from the serving gateway supportnode to the other serving gateway support an instruction in a GPRSTunneling Protocol (GTP) message to carry out relocation of the firstexisting connection from the serving gateway support node to the otherserving gateway support node: detect recovery of communications to thefirst serving gateway; and cease relocation of at least some of theexisting connections that have not yet been relocated to the secondserving gateway in response to the detected recovery of communications.2. The serving gateway support node of claim 1, wherein: the circuitryis further configured to respond to the first serving gateway havingcompleted a restart by restoring at least some of the existingconnections to the first serving gateway that have not yet beenrelocated to the second serving gateway.
 3. The serving gateway supportnode of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to: receivemessages from a first group of user equipment nodes indicating that theyeach have at least one packet awaiting communication through a firstgroup of connections through the first serving gateway; determine that asecond group of user equipment nodes have a second group of connectionsthrough the first serving gateway and that each of the second group ofuser equipment nodes have no packet awaiting communication; and relocateall of the first group of connections to the second serving gatewaybefore relocating the second group of connections to the second servinggateway.
 4. The serving gateway support node of claim 1, wherein thecircuitry is further configured to: detect the event triggering handoverof a user equipment node, which has not yet been relocated to the secondserving gateway, from the serving gateway support node to anotherserving gateway support node; and relocating the existing connectionsassociated with the user equipment node by communicating from theserving gateway support node to the other serving gateway support aninstruction in a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) message to carry outrelocation of the first existing connection from the serving gatewaysupport node to the other serving gateway support node.
 5. The servinggateway support node of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to: detect the event triggering handover of a user equipmentnode from another serving gateway support node; receive contextinformation from the other serving gateway support node that identifiesexisting connections associated with the user equipment node; determinethat the existing connections identified by the context information passthrough the first serving gateway; and relocate the existing connectionsidentified by the context information from the first serving gateway tothe second serving gateway in response to the detected failure ofcommunications with the first serving gateway.
 6. The serving gatewaysupport node of claim 1, wherein the circuitry is further configured to:detect the event triggering handover of a user equipment node, which hasnot yet been relocated to the second serving gateway, from the servinggateway support node to another serving gateway support node; andresponsive to the detected event, communicate a message to the otherserving gateway support node that identifies an invalid Fully QualifiedDomain Name for the first serving gateway and/or an invalid FullyQualified Temporary Endpoint Identifier for the first serving gateway.7. The serving gateway support node of claim 1, wherein: the circuitryis further configured to respond to expiration of a threshold time sincehaving started relocation of the existing connections and continuingfailed communications by ceasing relocation of any remaining ones of theexisting connections that have not yet been relocated to pass throughthe second serving gateway.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the eventtriggering handover comprises a change in a serving gateway.
 9. Theserving gateway support node of claim 2, wherein: the circuitry isfurther configured to restore at least some of the existing connectionsto the first serving gateway that have not yet been relocated to thesecond serving gateway by communicating context information to the firstserving gateway for each of the existing connections that is to berestored to the first serving gateway.
 10. The serving gateway supportnode of claim 2, wherein: the circuitry is further configured to signal,after the first serving gateway restarts, the first serving gateway toreport a same restart counter to a packet gateway that the first servinggateway earlier reported to the packet gateway prior to the firstserving gateway restarting to avoid the packet gateway terminating theconnections that are being restored to the first serving gateway. 11.The serving gateway support node of claim 9, wherein: the contextinformation communicated from the serving gateway support node to thefirst serving gateway for each of the existing connections that is to berestored to the first serving gateway includes identification of theconnection, an Internet Protocol address of a packet gateway, atunneling identifier, a Quality of Service value, and/or a bearer ID.12. A method for controlling connections that pass through at least oneserving gateway of a radio telecommunications network, the methodcomprising the steps of: detecting failure of communications to a firstserving gateway; detecting an event triggering handover of a userequipment node, the event triggering handover including one or more of atracking area update, a routing area update, a radio handover, or aradio release with redirection; detecting at the serving gateway supportnode the event triggering handover of a user equipment node, which hasnot yet been relocated to the second serving gateway, from the servinggateway support node to another serving gateway support node; respondingto the detected failure by a serving gateway support node initiatingrelocation of existing connections through the first serving gateway toinstead pass through a second serving gateway based on the detectedevent triggering handover; relocating a first one of the existingconnections associated with the user equipment node by communicatingfrom the serving gateway support node to the other serving gatewaysupport an instruction in a GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP) message tocarry out relocation of the first existing connection from the servinggateway support node to the other serving gateway support node;detecting recovery of communications to the first serving gateway; andresponding to the detected recovery by the serving gateway support nodeceasing relocation of at least some of the existing connections thathave not yet been relocated to pass through the second serving gateway.13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the steps of: detectingthat the first serving gateway has completed a restart or recovered fromcommunication failure; and responding to the detected restart by theserving gateway support node restoring at least some of the existingconnections to the first serving gateway that have not yet beenrelocated to pass through the second serving gateway.
 14. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising the steps of: receiving messages from afirst group of user equipment nodes indicating that they each have atleast one packet awaiting communication through a first group ofconnections through the first serving gateway; determining that a secondgroup of user equipment nodes have a second group of connections throughthe first serving gateway and that each of the second group of userequipment nodes has no packet awaiting communication; and relocating allof the first group of connections to the second serving gateway beforerelocating the second group of connections to the second servinggateway.
 15. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of:detecting at the serving gateway support node the event triggeringhandover of a user equipment node, which has not yet been relocated tothe second serving gateway, from the serving gateway support node toanother serving gateway support node; and responsive to the detectedevent, communicating a message to the other serving gateway support nodethat identifies an invalid Fully Qualified Domain Name for the firstserving gateway and/or an invalid Fully Qualified Temporary EndpointIdentifier for the first serving gateway.
 16. The method of claim 12,further comprising the step of: responding to expiration of a thresholdtime since having started relocation of the existing connections and acontinuing failure of communications to the first serving gateway by theserving gateway support node ceasing relocation of any remaining ones ofthe existing connections that have not yet been relocated to passthrough the second serving gateway.
 17. The method of claim 13, whereinthe step of responding to the detected restart by the serving gatewaysupport node restoring at least some of the existing connections to thefirst serving gateway comprises: communicating context information tothe first serving gateway for each of the existing connections that isto be restored to the first serving gateway, wherein the contextinformation comprises identification of the connection, an InternetProtocol address of a packet gateway, a tunneling identifier, a Qualityof Service value, and/or a bearer ID.
 18. A first serving gateway in acommunications network, the serving gateway having undergone a failureof communications and at least one connection having been relocated toanother serving gateway, the first serving gateway comprising circuitrythat is configured to: receive a connection restoration message from aserving gateway support node after the first serving gateway hasrestarted ; and respond to the connection restoration message byrestoring in memory of the first serving gateway at least someconnections , which existed before the first serving gateway restarted,between user equipment nodes and a packet-based network that passedthrough the first serving gateway, wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to restore context information in the memory from theconnection restoration message that includes, for each of the existingconnections that is to be restored, identification of the connection, anInternet Protocol address of a packet gateway, a tunneling identifier,and/or a Quality of Service value.
 19. A packet gateway comprisingcircuitry that is configured to: determine that a serving gatewaysupport node supports a connection relocation mode through which theserving gateway support node relocates connections from a first servinggateway of a radio telecommunications network to a second servinggateway in response to the serving gateway support node detectingfailure of communications to the first serving gateway; detect failureof communications to the first serving gateway; respond to the detectedfailure of communications and determining that the serving gatewaysupport node supports the connection relocation mode by retaining in amemory of the packet gateway context information for any connectionsthat the packet gateway has that pass through the first serving gateway;or respond to the detected failure of communications to the firstserving gateway and determining that the serving gateway support nodedoes not support the connection relocation mode by deleting from thememory of the packet gateway the context information for any connectionsthat the packet gateway has that pass through the first serving gateway;wherein the circuitry is further configured to: detect failure ofcommunications to the first serving gateway by detecting when the firstserving gateway has restarted; respond to detecting that the firstserving gateway has restarted and determining that the serving gatewaysupport node supports the connection relocation mode by retaining in thememory of the packet gateway the context information for any connectionsthat the packet gateway has that pass through the first serving gateway:or respond to detecting that the first serving gateway has restarted anddetermining that the serving gateway support node does not support theconnection relocation mode by deleting from the memory of the packetgateway the context information for any connections that the packetgateway has that pass through the first serving gateway.
 20. A servinggateway support node that controls connections through at least oneserving gateway of a radio telecommunications network, the servinggateway support node comprising circuitry configured to: detect failureof communications to a first serving gateway; detect an event triggeringhandover of a user equipment node, the event triggering handoverincluding one or more of a tracking area update, a routing area update,a radio handover, or a radio release with redirection; initiaterelocation of existing connections through the first serving gateway toinstead pass through a second serving gateway in response to thedetected failure of communications and the event triggering handover;detect recovery of communications to the first serving gateway; andcease relocation of at least some of the existing connections that havenot yet been relocated to the second serving gateway in response to thedetected recovery of communications; wherein the circuitry is furtherconfigured to: relocate one of the existing connections for a userequipment node, which is in an Idle state Signalling Reduction (ISR)mode and is presently registered with both a S4-Serving GPRS SupportNode (S4-SGSN) and a Mobility Management Entity (MME), by transferringcontext information for the first serving gateway through a S3 messagefrom one of the S4-SGSN and MME to the other one of the S4-SGSN and MME.21. A method for controlling connections that pass through at least oneserving gateway of a radio telecommunications network, the methodcomprising the steps of: receiving at a serving gateway support node afirst message from an operator requesting that at least some connectionsbe offloaded from a first serving gateway; and responding to the firstmessage by the serving gateway support node relocating at least some ofthe connections from the first serving gateway to a second servinggateway; and responding to the first message by the serving gatewaysupport node instructing user equipment nodes, which are associated witheach of the connections to be relocated, to move to an ECM-idle,PMM-idle, or GPRS-standby state before the serving gateway support noderelocates the corresponding connections to the second serving gateway.